NFL intrigue goes beyond quarterbacks

The NFL’s off-season features plenty of intrigue beyond where Kirk Cousins and dozens of other quarterbacks will land.

As the Philadelphia Eagles enjoy the city’s first NFL title since 1960 and the New England Patriots smart over their failure to win a sixth ring, 30 other teams are plotting to unseat the conference kings. That appears to be a tougher task in the AFC than in the NFC, where the Vikings, Saints and Rams all are on the rise and the Pack promises to get back with Aaron Rodgers under centre again.

DeShaun Watson’s comeback from a torn ACL could put the Texans in the mix along with the resurgent Jaguars to wrest the Lamar Hunt Trophy from the grasp of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels, whose reneging on the Colts coaching job reignited the animosity between Indy and New England.

At league headquarters, Roger Goodell wants to see the mystery of the NFL’s catch rule solved.

Five cities are building their case to host the league’s annual draft in 2019 or 2020. This year’s extravaganza will be held April 26-28 in Jerry’s backyard at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Today, teams can designate franchise or transition players and in a week they’ll all be at the NFL combine in Indianapolis to take a gander at this year’s top college prospects.

Free agency starts March 14 with the new league year and that’s when the QB dominoes will start to fall.

Teams that hired a new coach this year — the Cardinals, Bears, Lions, Colts, Giants, Raiders and Titans — get to begin off-season workouts April 2. Everyone else starts two weeks later.

With Washington acquiring Alex Smith from the Kansas City Chiefs, Cousins will say goodbye to the Redskins and hello to the really big bucks. The Broncos, Jets and Cardinals will jockey to see who will pay Cousins $30 million US annually.